Getting Married
by Marie Tomas
Summary: (AU) From the moment he first met him, Magnus Bane has loved Alec Lightwood (his best friend Isabelle's older brother) from afar, always believing that Alec is pretty much indifferent to him and definitely not interested in Magnus romantically. Just when Magnus thinks that things can't get any worse, one Saturday night, Alec makes a drunken announcement that he's getting married...
1. Chapter 1

**Notes/Disclaimer:** Alternate Universe/Mundane AU based on the characters and settings of the Shadowhunters TV series. Magnus/Alec ('Malec') romance featuring a major misunderstanding along the way. (Cross-posted on my Ao3 account.)

I got the idea for this fan-fiction after watching the Season 1 episode when Magnus told Alec that they should 'at least go to dinner first' before they got married.

* * *

 **Getting Married**

* * *

"Magnus, I'm getting married."

This was the first semi-coherent sentence that Alec had said to him since they'd arrived at Magnus's apartment, after Magnus had shared a late-night walk home with a very drunk Alec, who had been rambling about anything and everything, from the cats that frequented Magnus's apartment, to his favorite TV shows, to how he thought that Jace and Clary were currently being idiots over something or other, and even something about vampires from the latest book series he was reading.

The rambling had continued while Magnus told Alec to go get ready for bed and he headed to his kitchen to get Alec a glass of water, giving him some privacy while he changed into a pair of Magnus's old pajamas.

Magnus had just managed to finally get Alec settled in his bed when the younger man had decided to casually mention the fact that he was getting married.

Not that Magnus generally minded the drunken rambling. After all, Alec spoke so little to him when he was sober that he was prepared to take anything he could get from Alec in the way of communication when he was drunk. It was one of the main reasons why Magnus always volunteered to walk Alec home, or even offered to let him stay over at his apartment on nights like these when Alec could no longer handle anymore alcohol, so that his more alcohol-tolerant siblings Izzy and Jace could continue their partying late into the night without having to worry about where their brother was or whether he was safe.

Surprisingly, both Izzy and Alec himself always seemed strangely enthusiastic about the idea of Alec leaving bars or clubs early to spend the night sleeping safely and comfortably in Magnus's bed or on Magnus's couch. He imagined that Izzy simply trusted him to keep Alec safe, as he'd always been considered as the _slightly_ more responsible member of their group of friends, given that he was a little older than the others, but he wondered why _Alec_ liked staying over at his place so much, especially when Alec never seemed to be very enthusiastic about speaking to him when he wasn't drunk.

Tonight, Izzy and Jace had wanted to head to some 'cool' new place they'd heard about called Pandemonium, where Clary and Simon were also apparently planning to hang out, so Magnus had volunteered to forgo the pleasures that Pandemonium would no doubt have to offer in order to keep an eye on an already drunk and tired Alec.

Not that Magnus was complaining about leaving the party early. A few years ago, he would have been the last to go home on a Saturday night (if he'd bothered to go home at all), but now, Magnus preferred spending these few treasured evenings with Alec, getting to see him open, unguarded, giggly and happy for a few hours before he fell into a peaceful sleep and woke up all grumpy again the next morning.

Alec's announcement that he was getting married, however, was definitely something that Magnus secretly wanted to complain about.

"Y-you're getting married?" Magnus asked him, for further clarification, trying to sound as calm as possible as he perched hesitantly on the side of his own bed, keeping a respectful distance while he watched Alec intently, hoping more than anything that Alec wasn't being serious.

Alec nodded, smirking to himself as he wriggled around a little in Magnus's bed and pulled the covers up around his shoulders, like he was really happy about his apparent engagement. He even giggled a little as he took a deep breath, exhaling into Magnus's pillow.

"Well, congratulations," Magnus attempted to smile back at him in response, trying not to let his shock at this news show on his face, and hoping that he at least _sounded_ sincere and _not_ like his heart was currently breaking into a million pieces.

He and Alec might not have ever been very close (in fact, Magnus was sure that the only thing that held them together was their mutual connection to Isabelle), but that didn't change the fact that Magnus had been in love with him from the moment he first met shy, nervous, blushing, deep, complicated, _beautiful_ Alexander Lightwood, on the night when Magnus's best friend Izzy had practically dragged her brother out to a club with her because she'd decided that he needed to get out and socialize more. Magnus had never really preferred the strong, silent types in the past, but for the first time in a long time, he had actually been rendered speechless when Izzy first introduced him to Alec.

Of course, Magnus had tried, at first, to see if there was any possibility that Alec might be interested in him, turning on his usual charm, throwing in a few flirty remarks and innuendo-filled comments, paying even closer attention than usual to his hair and his make up on the the nights he knew that Alec would be joining his sister for a drink, but he'd had no luck, as Alec had always looked either embarrassed or uncomfortable by Magnus's flirty remarks, so he'd eventually backed off. Given that Jace always tried to set Alec up with attractive women at every bar they drank at, Magnus had also started to assume that Alec was probably straight.

"W-who's the lucky girl?" he asked Alec with another insincere smile. He couldn't help wondering who this mystery woman might be, especially as Alec didn't seem to have many female friends, and Izzy hadn't mentioned anything about Alec going on dates, or seeing anybody romantically.

He eventually decided, after a few seconds of silent speculation, that it was probably Lydia, Alec's boss at his family's law firm, as she seemed to be the only single woman who Alec spent any significant amount of time with, when he wasn't spending time with his siblings and their friends. If it _was_ Lydia, then Magnus was already wildly jealous of her.

"G-girl?" Alec asked Magnus slowly with a confused frown. Magnus tried really hard not to think about how adorable Alec looked when he frowned like that. " _Guy_ , Magnus," Alec corrected him, wrinkling his nose and sighing.

Magnus was sure that he felt his heart breaking all over again. The fact that Alec was getting married to a man was so much _worse_ -from Magnus's point of view, anyway-because it meant that even though Alec had apparently been interested in men all along, he _still_ hadn't been interested in Magnus. In fact, Magnus wasn't even sure that Alec liked him very much as a person, if his tense body language and reluctance to engage in conversation with Magnus when he was sober were anything to go by.

"Oh," was all that Magnus was able to muster up as a response, his voice sounding flat.

He was just about to say something about how this mysterious guy didn't know how lucky he was when…

"You're not a girl, Magnus," Alec mumbled sleepily, his eyes half-closed. " _You're_ a hot _guy_ , a beautiful guy. In fact, your beauty's almost… _magical_ ," Alec giggled, nuzzling his nose into Magnus's pillow.

Magnus was just about to tease Alec about how he would never giggle like that when he was sober, but he stopped mid-sentence as a strange realization slowly hit him. His eyes started to widen in shock.

"A-Alexander," Magnus spoke slowly, carefully, feeling kind of confused. "Just so we're clear, are you trying to tell me that you're getting married to _me_?"

Surprisingly, Alec nodded. "I'm a traditional guy," he mumbled into Magnus's pillow, his speech a little slurred but his eyes fixed firmly on Magnus's face as he looked up at him. "I'm not like Izzy or Jace or even Simon. I don't wanna go out to bars every weekend; I don't dream about random hook ups. Not when I'm already secretly in love with _you_. You're so perfect, and beautiful, and when I'm around you, I feel like I can't _breathe_. I love your hair, and your eyes, and all your flirty lines that make me blush. I love how you always call me Alexander. I love sleeping here, in your bed. I just wanna be with _you_. So tonight, after I'd had a couple drinks, I decided that I'm gonna get married to you."

Magnus sat in silence for a few moments, unable to get over his shock that Alec had apparently just called him beautiful and declared his drunken love for him. He also felt an overwhelming sense of relief that Alec wasn't _really_ engaged to some anonymous man or woman.

Then he had to remind himself that Alec had been drinking, and probably didn't know what he was actually saying, and this declaration of eternal love was probably all some kind of drunken joking around.

As a result, Magnus decided to settle on amusement as his response. "Well, this is all a tad sudden, isn't it?" Magnus grinned at Alec, resisting the temptation to run a hand fondly through Alec's hair. "After all, we barely know each other."

"I've got to follow my heart," Alec shrugged, using a line that was probably taken from the Clary-or-Izzy-book-of-drunken-quotes, as it definitely didn't sound like something that Alec would normally say. The majority of Alec's most 'profound' quotes were all about logic and reason and doing what was right, and not letting the heart rule the head.

"Were you ever planning on sharing our wedding plans with me?" Magnus asked with another exasperated smirk. After all, he would like to have _some_ say in the matter, if a beautiful man ever decided that he wanted to marry him for real.

"Don't worry," Alec slurred, "I'm totally going to propose to you, one day, if I actually work up the nerve to talk to you when I hang out with you and Izzy during the day and I'm not drunk. I'm gonna try and do something really romantic when I eventually propose, even though I'll probably mess it up and drop the ring, or stumble over my words or trip over when I try to get down on one knee. But I'll try, for you." Suddenly his eyes widened and he looked panicked. "But, shhh, it's a secret, okay?" he whispered urgently. "I don't want you to know about this yet…"

"Your secret's safe with me, Alexander," Magnus told him, trying to sound completely serious and trying _not_ to laugh. Alec was even more adorable than usual when he was drunk and unguarded like this, when he had no clue what he was actually saying or doing.

Alec seemed to relax into Magnus's pillows again for a few moments, his eyes slowly closing, but then he suddenly sat up, looking panicked. He grabbed Magnus's shoulders. "Please say yes, Magnus, when I ask you!" he whispered frantically. "You can plan the ceremony and the party-it'll be _amazing_ , as you always say. You can paint your nails and wear your makeup and jewelry, go shopping and buy a new outfit..." (Magnus couldn't help rolling his eyes affectionately.) "You'll love it, I promise," Alec insisted.

"I'm sure I _will_ love it, Alexander," Magnus smiled at him, patting him on the shoulder indulgently, feeling a strange sense of sadness at the thought that this was all just a part of Alec's drunken rambling. "But perhaps you should take a break from wedding planning for now and try to get some sleep?" He was already certain that Alec would feel humiliated by everything he had said when he woke up hungover in the morning, and Magnus really didn't want to prolong his potential embarrassment any further tonight.

Alec nodded and started to settle back down in the bed, but then another thought seemed to occur to him… "After the ceremony, can I take you to bed, Magnus? I could make love to you, here, on your bed… on those golden sheets you always say you love so much? I've never done it before-shh, don't tell Jace that though, he'll think it's hilarious- but, I want you, I want this...I think about it all the time, secretly, every time you make one of your flirty comments…"

Much to his own embarrassment (and surprise), Magnus actually started blushing as Alec talked about the two of them having sex. Magnus had had many relationships and sexual partners, sometimes several sexual partners at once, and he'd always considered himself to be pretty open and relaxed when it came to talking about what went on in the bedroom-or outside of the bedroom, depending on where the mood took him-but it felt like _years_ since he'd actually 'made love', as Alec so eloquently put it. Years since he'd actually been with someone he loved. The thought of Alexander Lightwood being naked, with him, wanting him, in his bed, was overwhelming. It was too much, too magical an image to hold in his head when he knew that the image would be shattered in the morning by the harsh light of reality.

"I think you need to rest now, Alexander," Magnus whispered.

Alec nodded, closing his eyes as he settled on his front and hugged Magnus's pillow tight. Just when Magnus thought that Alec had drifted off to sleep and he therefore attempted to move quietly away from the bed, Alec started talking again, his words sounding even more slurred.

"I'm getting married and _we're_ gonna live happily ever after, Magnus, here in your loft in Brooklyn. It'll be amazing, I promise…" He turned his head to look at Magnus and gave him the brightest smile that Magnus had ever seen. It was a smile that Magnus was sure could light up his whole apartment, a smile that made him feel strangely like a teenager with a crush, in spite of many relationships and sexual encounters since his days at high school. Magnus wished that Alec would smile more often. He wished that _he_ could make Alec smile more often.

"You know I always keep my promises, Magnus..."

"That I do know, Alexander," Magnus smiled softly, feeling sad again.

Magnus watched Alec sleep for about half an hour before he slowly walked out of his room and headed for the couch, in order to make things easier for Alec in the morning, when he would no doubt be attempting to sneak out of the apartment before Magnus could talk to him.

He let out a soft sigh, a part of him wishing that the night could just last for a little while longer, so that Alec could stay in his bed, safe and warm, and Magnus could go over his words about the two of them getting married all over again.

Magnus had never really considered the possibility of marriage before. He wasn't even sure that he had ever been with anyone who loved him enough to want to marry him. But now, he felt a strange longing to exchange rings and vows and wake up in the same bed with the same person every morning. He felt like he was missing something that he had never really had in the first place.

* * *

Sure enough, early the next morning, Magnus had just managed to get dressed, apply his makeup, make tea, and sit back down on his couch when he caught sight of Alec moving quickly and silently towards Magnus's front door. His body language gave away just how tense he was as he looked down at the floor on his way to the door, apparently unaware that Magnus was awake and watching him.

"You pretty boys are all _exactly_ the same," Magnus declared as he folded his arms and crossed his legs, letting out a theatrical sigh.

Alec jumped, startled, then he gasped and seemed to trip over his own feet.

"Dammit!" he cried out as he fell clumsily to the floor, apparently back to being his usual awkward, sober self.

He stood back up as quickly as he had fallen, dusting himself off and blushing, refusing to look Magnus in the eye.

"You promise me the earth to get into my bed," Magnus continued, as though nothing had happened, "and then you fail to deliver on those promises in the morning…" he finished with a dramatic flourish of his hand and a wink.

"Magnus….I….uh…." Alec spluttered with a deep blush, reverting back to the typical style of speech that he used with Magnus when he didn't have the assistance of alcohol to reduce his inhibitions. "I'm…sorry….about…the…uh…stuff I said, uh…last night…I'm not good with alcohol, or good at apologies..." he shrugged.

"I accept your apology, Alexander," Magnus smiled softly at him, as he stood up slowly and carefully, trying not to feel overwhelmed by disappointment that Alec clearly hadn't meant any of it.

As he was fully aware that Alec would probably have preferred to have silently left the apartment by now, he tried not to make him feel any more uncomfortable than necessary. "Relax, I'll just forget about everything you said. It's already in the past. After all, alcohol makes you say strange things…"

"Uh…yeah…" Alec shrugged, still looking like he might make a run for it at any moment. "Well...I gotta go...so, thanks for taking me to bed...I mean, thanks for letting me sleep in your bed, bye..."

He turned around and started to head towards the door again, much to Magnus's disappointment, but then he suddenly stopped. He stayed rooted to the spot for a few seconds, as though trying to make a decision about something, before he sighed and turned around and took a few steps closer to Magnus, looking more nervous than ever.

Magnus stared at him, trying not to look too confused.

"You know," Alec mumbled, blushing again and still refusing to look Magnus in the eye, "I uh…they say that alcohol also just makes you more honest, about how you feel…and uh…stuff. Not that I'm saying that we should just get married right now, or that you'd even think of me like that, but...uh...yeah..." He took a deep breath. It looked like it had taken all of his strength to summon the courage to say what he'd just said, but also like he'd needed to say it; like he'd needed to take that first step over some kind of invisible barrier.

It took a few seconds for Magnus to process what Alec was trying to tell him, but then he felt a grin spread slowly over his face as he realized that Alec was confirming that his declarations from last night hadn't just been brought on by drunken rambling.

Magnus had to resist the urge to put some music on and dance triumphantly around his apartment. He couldn't believe that this whole time, Alec had always acted so strangely around him not because he disliked him or because he was indifferent to him, but because he _liked_ him, and he was just too shy to tell him, until the declaration had come out in the extreme as a marriage proposal. Magnus almost felt tears of happiness threatening to spill over. He'd never even considered himself to be worthy of Alec's attention, and now Alec was practically declaring his love for him.

Instead of breaking into a song and dance, he settled on running a hand soothingly up and down Alec's arm for a few brief moments. He decided to keep things light-hearted, but still a little flirtatious…

"Alexander, if you and I are going to get married, then we should _at least_ go to dinner first, get to know each other, have a conversation…" Magnus grinned, as he ran his other hand over his ear, trying to act coy.

Although he still looked embarrassed, Alec actually managed to smile at Magnus. It was a smile that Magnus very rarely saw when Alec was sober. Magnus already knew that he was going to get addicted to that smile.

"Uh…yeah…okay…marriage...I mean dinner, dinner's good. I mean, dinner, with you, is good…" he grinned again, still looking embarrassed.

Magnus smiled back at him, trying not to laugh out loud at Alec's awkwardness for fear of scaring him off.

He had just started to walk away from Magnus again and towards the door when he stopped and walked back towards Magnus, looking embarrassed but also a little amused.

With another blush, he got down on one knee and looked up at Magnus, his expression sincere. "Magnus Bane, will you do me the honor of going to dinner with me tonight?"

Magnus stared in shock for a few seconds, surprised that Alec actually had a sense of humor beneath the serious expressions and the sarcastic remarks and the awkward body language.

"I'd love that, Alexander Lightwood," Magnus grinned at him, feeling happier than he had felt in a long time, maybe ever.

As Alec stood up, the two of them both laughed at Alec's unexpected joke, sharing the amusement, much to Magnus's delight. Alec even held Magnus's hand, briefly, before he left the apartment, still blushing as he headed out of the door.

Magnus knew that it was only early days, and that any relationship with Alec Lightwood would take a lot of work and patience on both of their parts, but he was already picturing romantic proposals, amazing ceremonies and golden sheets...


	2. Chapter 2

Alec was acting very strangely.

Not that strange behavior on Alec's part was really anything new to Magnus-Alec still had his moments of blushing, or stumbling over his words, or tripping over thin air, or starting conversations about the most random topics, especially when he was drunk- but these moments were more endearing to Magnus than exasperating, and he had gotten used to all of that strange behavior in the short time that he had been dating Alec.

The problem was that today, Alec was acting strangely in a _different_ way than usual. In a way that seemed to suggest that he had something to hide.

It had all started this morning when, instead of waking up slowly and calmly, Alec had woken up abruptly, his eyes widening as he sat up quickly and practically jumped out of Magnus's bed, frantically checking his phone before mumbling something about having to get to work.

Magnus had sighed in protest and attempted to get him to stay in bed for a little longer, but Alec had been insistent that he had to go, simply acknowledging Magnus's reminder that Alec had agreed to have lunch with him later with a quick nod and a wave of his hand before he practically ran out of the loft.

Magnus had been left sitting on the edge of his bed, feeling kind of bewildered. Alec hadn't acted like that since the morning after his drunken confession about wanting to marry Magnus, which, after the initial embarrassment, had at least confirmed his true feelings for Magnus and marked the unofficial beginning of their relationship, with the two of them going out for dinner that very same night.

Since then, Alec had always seemed to be very comfortable with staying over at Magnus's Brooklyn loft, even without the help of alcohol to lower his inhibitions. They might not have fully taken the 'sex step' yet (for the first time since he had started dating anyone, Magnus was really making an effort to take things slow in this relationship, because all of this was new to Alec), but Alec still seemed perfectly happy to sleep in Magnus's bed with him, the two of them cuddling up under the covers as they slept, or kissing slowly as their hands wandered, before they fell asleep and woke up peacefully together in the morning, with Magnus usually getting one of Alec's rare happy, genuine smiles as their eyes opened, before Alec started to complain in whispers about having to get up and get ready for work.

Magnus wasn't sure what had changed this morning; he didn't know what had caused Alec to jump up out of bed without so much as a smile, or what had caused him to run away.

After Alec's strange behavior when he woke up, Magnus had called him a couple of times throughout the morning, just to check that Alec was okay, but the first time he called, Alec had sounded distant and distracted for the entire conversation, and the second time, Maryse, Alec's mother, had answered the phone on her son's behalf, insisting that Alec had just got caught up with some work issue and would call him back later, although Magnus hadn't been able to shake off the suspicion that she also sounded kind of tense, and like she maybe wasn't telling the whole truth.

* * *

After that tense phone conversation, Magnus almost hadn't expected Alec to show up at the loft for lunch, but to Magnus's surprise, he arrived when he said he would, looking kind of out of breath, as though he had just been running around all over Brooklyn, and he was acting strangely reluctant to take his leather jacket off, in spite of the trickle of sweat on his forehead and a red flush to his cheeks.

After only a couple of minutes into their lunch however, Magnus started to think that Alec might as well have _not_ shown up, because it seemed like his thoughts were somewhere else; he barely touched his food, and he only responded with one-word answers while Magnus talked in detail about his day so far.

Magnus couldn't help feeling a rush of panic as a couple of strange suspicions suddenly formulated in his mind: What if Alec was getting bored of their relationship? What if there was somebody else on the scene? What if Alec wanted to break up with him?

He knew that his and Alec's friends might just put these feelings down to paranoia, if he confided in them-Magnus had been hurt emotionally before in previous relationships, and those past feelings of rejection didn't just go away overnight-but still, he couldn't shake off the suspicion that something wasn't quite right, or that there was something going on that he didn't know about, especially when Alec kept checking his phone under the table when they were supposed to be eating dessert, like he really didn't want Magnus to see what he was looking at on his phone screen.

Even worse, Magnus thought as Alec got up from the table, still looking distant, what if there was something going on in Alec's life that was stressing him out? Maybe a family thing? Or a work issue? Or maybe he'd received some kind of bad news this morning? Alec was still shy; he still struggled to fully open up to people, and it was entirely possible that he was afraid to admit that something was getting to him.

Therefore, as Alec was getting ready to leave the apartment to go back to work, Magnus stopped him by gently grabbing his arm.

"Alexander," he said as he ran his hand slowly up and down Alec's arm, trying to sound calm while Alec frowned at him in apparent confusion, "if something's bothering you, you know that you can tell me, right?"

"Nothing's bothering me," Alec replied, his tone of voice sounding kind of flat. Magnus also couldn't help noticing that he didn't look Magnus in the eye when he answered.

Magnus sighed sadly as Alec left the apartment, feeling kind of helpless. After only a few short minutes, he made a rash decision. As quickly and as quietly as possible, he headed out of the apartment and onto the streets outside, walking in the direction that he knew that Alec would take on his way back to work.

Following Alec like this went completely against Magnus's better judgement, or sense of morality, but he had to find some way of discovering what was going on with his boyfriend, just in case something really was causing him any distress.

Finally, he caught up with Alec, who was walking a few feet ahead of Magnus and appeared to be in deep conversation on his phone.

Magnus hung back, watching Alec discreetly at a distance from around the nearest corner.

"Listen," he heard Alec say to whoever he was talking to, "you can't tell Magnus, okay? I don't want him to find out about this yet…"

Magnus felt a fresh wave of fear as he listened to Alec's conversation. He was so concerned that he forgot to follow Alec any further, and instead he stayed still as Alec walked even further away and turned another corner.

Magnus leaned against the wall for little while before he headed back to his apartment, playing the words of Alec's brief conversation over and over in his mind, trying to work out what they meant, or more specifically, trying to work out what Alec didn't want him to find out about.

As though he had somehow sensed that he was currently playing a starring role in Magnus's thoughts, Magnus's phone suddenly started to ring, and the name 'Alexander' flashed up on the screen.

"Magnus…uh…I….uh…just wanted to check that you'd be home later?" Alec mumbled as soon as Magnus answered, reminding Magnus of Alec's typical style of speech when they had gone on their first date three months ago, when Alec had nervously called Magnus all day in the run up to the date, checking where he wanted to go, what he should wear and what time he should pick him up. It was the style of speech that Alec had also used towards the end of the date, when he'd walked Magnus home and hesitantly asked Magnus if he could kiss him, blushing the whole time, while Magnus hadn't been able to help grinning in response as he thought about how adorable Alec was when he was nervous. Only now, Alec's words were causing him to feel fear rather than adoration.

"Uh, okay, good," Alec continued when Magnus confirmed that he would be home when Alec finished work. "It's just that I, uh…I need to talk to you about something…"

As he hung up the phone, Magnus felt a strange mixture of hope that Alec was going to confide in him about whatever it was that was troubling him, and apprehension that Alec was going to deliver some kind of bad news, or maybe even announce that he wanted to break up.

After pacing the apartment for a little while, Magnus took out his phone and started dialling his best friend Izzy's number. After all, if anyone would know what was up with Alec, it would be Alec's sister.

"Nothing's the matter with Alec," Izzy giggled after Magnus attempted to explain the situation over the phone. Yet Magnus had a sneaking suspicion that her laughter sounded a little forced. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but he was even sure that he could hear a quiet voice in the background, as though someone else was talking to Izzy at the same time. "I'm sure my big brother's just being his usual, intense self…"

"But he's acting so-"

"Anyway," Izzy quickly cut him off with another high-pitched, false-sounding giggle, "you and I are definitely going to need to go shopping this weekend, Magnus," she insisted, as though this matter was very important right now, "and probably the weekend after that, and the weekend after that…."

Magnus tried to ask Izzy what they could possibly need to go shopping for now-not that Magnus was ever usually opposed to shopping trips, but he'd already spent so much money on his last shopping spree with Izzy after she'd been determined to buy expensive outfits for her and Simon so that they could get into some apparently totally-cool-but-exclusive club in the city, and then she'd also insisted that Magnus should buy a new, expensive outfit, too, so that he didn't miss out-and well, Magnus didn't exactly need much persuading when it came to buying clothes; but now that he was in a relationship, he knew that he had to be a little more careful about these impulsive spending sprees.

"Trust me," she continued, "we really need to go shopping for new clothes."

After their conversation ended, Magnus hung up the phone with an exasperated sigh, wondering what crazy scheme Izzy was planning that required the two of them to buy new outfits.

Moreover, Izzy's apparent obliviousness to Alec's current situation didn't do much to calm Magnus's nerves.

* * *

Magnus spent the next couple of hours staring morosely out his living room window, watching the rain trickle down slowly onto the Brooklyn streets. At any other time, he would have laughed to himself at the thought of how much he looked like he was currently appearing in some kind of music video, especially as he was wearing expensive clothes and had just fixed his hair and reapplied his eyeliner, but right now, he didn't really feel like laughing.

As he sat staring out of the window, he thought about his and Alec's relationship over the past three months.

He thought about that first day, after Alec's drunken confession, after Alec had asked him out on a date, and Magnus had felt so happy. He had even put on his favorite music as he got ready for the date, dancing around his apartment a little, only stopping when he got a call from Izzy, who had practically screamed with joy the second Magnus answered the phone, telling him about all the secret plans she'd already come up with to get Alec and Magnus together (apparently, she'd been at the point of forcing them to play some kind of game that sounded a lot like Spin the Bottle, in a desperate attempt to get Alec to kiss Magnus), but now she was so happy because 'they'd worked it all out on their own!'.

It was only as Magnus had started to apply his makeup for the date and he looked in the mirror and realized that his hand was shaking, that the thought had come into his head that maybe this was _it_ ; that maybe _Alec_ was going to be it for him.

Then Magnus thought about the actual date with Alec that evening, how Alec had shown up at his front door right on time holding a red rose and blushing an even darker shade than the rose (Magnus had been convinced that the rose was Izzy's idea). The first date had been kind of awkward, with Alec looking pretty terrified the whole time and tripping over the stairs in the restaurant as soon as they arrived, and there'd been a few awkward silences and blushes.

Not to mention the fact that Izzy and Clary had somehow thought that it would be a good idea to spy on them throughout their date (Clary at least had been a little more subtle about it, walking past the restaurant window a few times wearing a long jacket with a hood that half-obscured her face, but the sight of Izzy not-so-discreetly pressed up against the glass as she observed them had gotten kind of distracting after a while and had made Alec act even more nervous), but still, from Magnus's point of view, the date had been perfect, because he'd been on that date with _Alec_ , and Alec had walked him home and kissed him goodnight.

Then they'd gone on even more dates, sometimes at bars and restaurants, and at other times they'd just stayed at Magnus's apartment, drinking tea or cocktails as they talked late into the night, getting to know each other. Alec had got slightly less nervous with each date, opening up a little more every time, and Magnus had tried to be patient with him, gently coaxing him into sharing more of his thoughts and feelings, as well as trying to explain the general ins and outs of relationships to Alec.

As well as going on dates together, they'd also continued to go out at weekends with Izzy-and Jace, Clary and Simon often joined them, too. Alec was a lot less awkward now when Magnus was out with all his friends, and he even let Magnus buy him drinks and sometimes agreed to dance with him, in spite of Jace's obvious laughter whenever Alec headed for the dancefloor.

He also thought about the night when Alec had nervously asked him to be his boyfriend, when the two of them were cuddled up in bed together not long after their first few dates, because he wanted things to 'be official', and Magnus had readily agreed, trying not to laugh at how nervous Alec sounded when he asked him.

And the whole time, Magnus had been so _happy_ ; so content; it just felt so natural, sharing his life with Alec, being the one to make Alec smile and laugh. He knew that he would be heartbroken if Alec wanted to break up with him. Already, he didn't think that he could live without him.

Eventually, Magnus snapped out of his memories and decided that he couldn't keep still any longer with all this pent-up nervous energy. Instead, he decided to make himself useful for the rest of his day off, and he headed out to carry out a couple of errands and visit a few friends.

* * *

Magnus had managed to ignore his feelings of confusion and apprehension for a little while, but as soon as he headed back to his Brooklyn loft, the nerves started to come back as he remembered that he would be seeing Alec soon, and Alec needed to 'talk to him about something'.

As he opened his front door, Magnus was mentally preparing a whole speech that he was going to give to Alec about how Alec could just tell him if there was something that was bothering him, that he was here for him, no matter what; that Alec should just be honest, that they had to get whatever it was out in the open...but the second he walked through the door, Magnus was struck by the feeling that something was _different_ about the apartment.

It was only when he looked down at the floor that he noticed that rose petals had for some reason been scattered all over it.

He wondered why there were rose petals everywhere. It seemed like the kind of thing that Magnus himself would do, but he knew he hadn't done it today, not when things had been so weird between him and Alec…

Then, he realized that the rose petals were scattered in some kind of trail, leading to the living room. His heart beating fast, Magnus headed towards the living room, and then he saw Alec, standing right in the middle of the room, his body language tense as he stared at Magnus intently.

Magnus was just getting over his surprise at seeing Alec (and trying not to think about how Alec must be the most beautiful man that he'd ever had the privilege of dating), when he noticed that the room was full of candles, as well as a few extra rose petals.

Magnus blinked in confusion a few times. "What's all this about?" he asked Alec with a frown.

It wasn't that he was opposed to candles and rose petals in the apartment-Magnus could be quite the romantic, after all-he just had no idea why _Alec_ had decided to decorate the room like this, especially when he still looked so tense, when he was meant to be here to talk to Magnus about something.

Alec seemed to be taking a few deep breaths. "Magnus, I love you…."

Magnus felt suddenly fearful as he half-expected a 'but...' followed by something like, 'this isn't working' or, 'I want to break up' or even, 'something really bad has happened', but then Alec did something that Magnus definitely wasn't expecting-he took another deep breath and _got down on one knee_.

Magnus could only stare in shock, his eyes wide. He was sure that his heart skipped a couple beats.

"I…uh…I had this long, romantic speech prepared that Izzy helped me write," Alec muttered, blushing bright red, "but now, now I'm thinking I should maybe just say what I feel…"

All that Magnus could do was nod, feeling too shocked to speak, and Alec seemed to take that as a sign that he should continue.

"Magnus, I…I know we haven't been dating long, and other people will say it's too soon, but this, between us," said Alec, pointing awkwardly from himself to Magnus, his hand shaking, "it just feels right. And…uh…I think you feel the same…maybe. All that stuff I said to you that time I was drunk, about wanting to marry you, I might have been embarrassed as hell the next morning, but I meant it, Magnus, and all those promises I made you, too. I never wanted to marry anyone until I met you. And I...I hope you feel the same. So, Magnus Bane, will you marry me?" He reached into the pocket of his leather jacket and took out an actual, real engagement ring, his hand still shaking.

Magnus let out an involuntary gasp as Alec held out the ring box. He couldn't believe that this was real, that this was actually happening. He continued to stare at Alec in wide-eyed disbelief, still feeling too surprised to actually formulate words.

Apparently, Alec had taken his silence as reluctance. "Do you not want to?" he asked Magnus, looking nervous, vulnerable, hurt, even. "Is it too soon? Did I do it wrong? Did I say or do something embarrassing?"

"Alexander, I thought that you were breaking up with me, or that something bad had happened."

Of course, Magnus couldn't help blurting out the first coherent thought that came into his head, instead of reassuring Alec that he hadn't done anything wrong.

"Huh?" Alec asked with a frown as he slowly got to his feet. "Why would I break up with you?"

"Today, Alexander, you just seemed so distant, so tense, so secretive," Magnus explained, now finding his voice. "I thought that you were hiding something, keeping secrets from me….I never realized that _this_ is what you were hiding…" As he pointed to the ring, Magnus realized that his own hands were shaking, and he knew that he must still be in shock. He just hadn't expected something like this; partly because they were still in the early days of their relationship, and partly because Magnus was generally pessimistic when it came to love and romance after being hurt so many times in the past, but the thought that Alec would propose to him tonight had never even crossed his mind.

"Magnus," said Alec soothingly, as he took a step closer. Magnus was reminded of the morning after Alec's drunken confession, when they were still working through the truth behind everything that Alec had said. Only now, their roles were reversed, because Alec was the one who seemed to be calmly offering reassurance while Magnus was still shaking with nerves. "I'm sorry. I was just nervous about the proposal. And I was trying really hard to keep it a secret; I didn't want to ruin the surprise. Then I got a call this morning to go pick up the ring, and then I was trying to hide the ring, and organize the candles and the rose petals, and stop every single member of my family from 'accidentally' telling you what was going on, and I had to make sure you would be home. I never wanted you to think tha-"

"Yes," said Magnus suddenly, cutting off Alec's explanation. He knew that he didn't need to hear any more of it, now that he knew the truth. It was as though the word had been dragged up from his heart before his brain could think about what it wanted him to say next.

"W-what?" Alec asked him, his voice sounding just as shaky as Magnus's.

"Yes," Magnus repeated, sounding more certain than he had ever sounded in his life.

Still, Alec looked at him, like he was unsure if Magnus was actually saying yes to his proposal, or to something else.

"I'd love to marry you, Alexander Lightwood."

At last, Alec smiled his full, happy, genuine smile-it was a smile that Magnus was already obsessed with, and he made a silent promise that he was going to make sure Alec continued to smile like that after they were married.

And then Alec's arms were around him, the two of them holding each other tightly, and Magnus felt giddy, dizzy almost with excitement, with happiness, with disbelief that something this good had just happened. He hadn't felt like this in so long, maybe even years; he wasn't sure that there'd ever been anyone before Alec who had made him feel such intense emotions.

He knew that people would say that this was crazy, that it was too soon; his friends would probably remind him that he'd always insisted that he didn't want to get married, and they hadn't even had sex yet (although Magnus now had a feeling that Alec had been waiting until they got married for that to happen-he was a 'traditional guy', after all), but Magnus didn't care. He'd been in relationships that had lasted much longer that had never made him feel as happy as being with Alec made him feel. Time wasn't always the best judge of a decision.

Besides, their lives already felt like they were entwined-Alec's friends had become his friends and vice-versa; he and Alec practically lived together; and it wasn't like things were perfect all the time-they'd already had their fair share of stress and arguments caused by work pressure or families or miscommunication, but they'd got through it all, and they could continue to get through it.

Eventually, the two of them pulled apart and grinned at each other again, before Alec leaned in for a kiss.

Magnus almost wanted to laugh at the idea that all of this had started with a random drunken confession from Alec that he was going to marry Magnus, and now they were getting married for real. He'd been so excited just at the prospect of getting to call Alec his boyfriend when they first made things official, but now he would be able to call Alec his _husband_.

However, he had to blink away a tear from his eye when Alec pulled back from the kiss so that he could gently slip the ring onto Magnus's finger.

"So, was it romantic enough?" Alec asked him, still sounding nervous, in spite of his grin.

"It was perfect, Alexander," Magnus assured him. He fully allowed himself to feel an overwhelming sense of relief now that he knew that Alec wasn't breaking up with him, now he knew that they were okay. "You definitely delivered on your drunken promise…"

Alec looked pleased with himself, albeit a little embarrassed.

"Well, it looks like your sister was right about needing to go shopping again soon," Magnus grinned, as he suddenly realized that Izzy might have been hinting earlier on that they would need to go _wedding_ shopping. Maybe Izzy could help him plan the ceremony, too.

Alec rolled his eyes as soon as the word 'shopping' was mentioned, but he didn't say anything to protest.

"And," Magnus added, running a hand over his ear with a deceptively coy grin, deciding that it would be fun to make Alec blush all over again, "I think I'm going to have to go find those golden sheets I love so much…"


End file.
